INITIATIVES
SoDL Initiatives encompass a range of past, ongoing, and future projects by the Lab, including but not limited to workshops, symposiums, exhibitions, and artist residencies. Through these initiatives, the Lab seeks to connect the NUS Department of Architecture with external practitioners, fostering a strong network of socially engaged design practices.
Now happening
Assembling the Social exhibition brings together a multidisciplinary collection of fourteen socially-engaged projects. Ranging from art, design, architecture, education and urban planning, the projects situate the social across multiple scales and sites. They present a mosaic of outputs that reflect how different fields and disciplines respond to the urgent eco-techno-social concerns of our time. To […]
Assembling the Social exhibition brings together a multidisciplinary collection of fourteen socially-engaged projects. Read more about the exhibitors here.
The Social by Design Residency is a 12 week artist residency programme seeking to foster community-engaged design projects that address social, cultural, or environmental concerns. The Residency is intended as a space to support interdisciplinary experimentation and critical inquiry into ethical, inclusive, participatory, and sustainable design methodologies, and works produced from this programme should generate frameworks, toolkits, or prototypes that can be shared, adapted, and scaled beyond the residency.
Coming Soon
The exhibition closing reception on 5th March 2026 offers a chance to draw connections and surface key themes, ideas, and productive tensions that run through the works before they are disassembled. Light refreshments will be provided.
Events hosted by the Social Design Lab serve as dynamic platforms for exchange, bridging the gap between academic inquiry, public engagement, and international discourse. We aim to translate our work into open forums, such as exhibitions and conferences, that invite the school community and global practitioners to collectively interrogate the role of design in shaping social systems. These gatherings are designed to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and provocation, transforming the Lab’s work into a shared conversation that extends beyond the university and into the wider world.
Our workshops aim to bridge the gap between academic theory and the evolving realities of practice. By bringing together local and international practitioners, experts, and academics, we provide students with direct access to diverse global perspectives and various creative methodologies. These sessions allow for experimentation and skill-sharing, challenging students to interrogate complex social issues in a hands-on, peer-led environment. Ultimately, we hope to generate new ideas, and to foster a culture of learning to nurture the next generation of social designers.
The Social by Design Residency is a one-semester, studio-based program dedicated to fostering community-engaged projects that address pressing social, cultural, and environmental concerns. By providing a dedicated platform for interdisciplinary experimentation, the residency encourages critical inquiry into ethical, inclusive, and participatory design methodologies. Beyond supporting individual creative practice, the program is focused on capacity-building, aiming to generate tangible frameworks, toolkits, and prototypes that can be shared, adapted, and scaled beyond the lab.
Design Research initiated by the Lab investigate the complex intersections of people, policy, and the built environment. Our research goes beyond traditional analysis, using participatory methods, informal inquiry, and social-spatial mapping to uncover the lived realities of urban communities. We aim to translate academic insights into actionable strategies for social change.
Educational Modules offered in collaboration with the Social Design Lab at the Department of Architecture give students the opportunity to engage with the social and participatory aspects of design in an academic setting.
